Heating system



Patentecl Jan. 6, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,434,086 HEATINGSYSTEM; Samuel W. Traylor, 'Jr.-, Allentown,.Pa. Application December 7,1944-, Serial No. 5671043 3 Claims. (omen-9) This invention relates toheating systems for means for controlling the heating effect of theradiator by varying the effective heating surface of the radiator inaccordance with the pressure orthe steam admitted to the radiator, theeffective heating surface being determined by the level of the steamcondensate within the radiator.

Another object of my invention is to provide in a heating system of theabove character, means responsive to outdoor weather conditions forregulating the pressure of steam in the radiator.

A further object of my invention is to provide control means for thetemperature within the enclosure that are of simple construction andcomposed of comparatively few parts was to permit their installation inheating systems of the general type now in common use without excessiveexpense either for labor required for making thechange-over or foradditional equipment.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,reference beingbad to the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a conventional steam heating system fora home or building inoorporating' the novel control features;

Figure 2 is a view in vertical cross-section of a standpipe associatedwith a radiator; and

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a modified form of housing for theoutdoor thermostat; and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a thermostatically controlledpressure regulating valve employed in the system.

In- Fig. 1 of the drawings is illustrated a steam heating systemcomprising a boiler 3, located Within a building, one of the enclosingwalls of which is indicated at l. 'A steam line 2 leads from the boilerthrough a floor la and connects with one side. of. aroom, radiator R.Adjacent theradiator and in. circuit therewith is a standpipe S, thecondensate from the radiator flowing through the. standpipe. and into areturnline 2: discharging at its lower end into a surge tank T whichserves as anaccumulator for the water condensing'in the system as wellas a storage tank: for water supplied to the boiler. A pump 4 drivenbyan electric motor 5 delivers water from the surge tank into the boilerthrough apipe 6 in which is interposed a check valve 1 to preventreverse flow of steam or water from the boiler to the surge tank. Afloat operatedswitch 8 schematically represented, and responsive to thelevel of the water inthe boiler, controls the operation of the motortomaintain an adequate supply of water in the boiler. A relief vent 9 isprovided inthe top of the surge tank opening to the atmosphere.The-structure so far described is conventional and requires no detaileddescription.

Interposed in the steam line 2 intermediate-the boiler and the radiatoris a pressure-regulating valve I0 adjustable by the-expansion andcontraction of a metal bellows ll so as to regulate the pressure of thesteam supplied to the radiator. The bellows communicatesthrcughacapillary tube i2 with a bulb l3 enclosed Within a box located outsidethe building and exposed to outdoor temperature conditions, the bulb,tube and bellows being filled with a gas or liquid such that expansionor contraction of the fluid in the-bulb transmits its pressure to thebellows to contract or expand the bellows and, consequently; adjustthe-valve ID. A valve of this general type is disclosedin Fig. 3 ofPatent'No. 2, 231,696 of Kenneth R. D. Wolfe, dated February 11, 1941.

The radiator R is of the well-known sectional type comprising a seriesof hollow interconnected rectangular units I4' disposedvertically and"made of metal to provide an. efficient transfer of heat by directradiation from the steam circulated through the radiator to thesurroundingv atmos phere. The steam line 2 connects with an inlet portin the upper end of the first radiator section and the condensate passesfrom an outlet in the bottom of the last section of the radiator. into acoupling 15' which may 'or'may notcontain athermostatic trap so' far asmy invention isconcerned'. The coupling opens into, the bottom or avertical standpipe l6 and extending centrally upward within thestandpipe, as best shown'in- Fig. 2; is an overflow pipe l1 forming anextension of the upper. end of steam return line 3.

Telescoping over the. upper end or: the. overflow pipe is a tubular capI 8 which is slidable up and down along the pipe by means of a stem I9.The cap I8 is provided with escape ports 22 a spaced distance below itstop so as to allow condensate to spill over from the stan-dpipe into theoverflow pipe H. The stem I9 is swivelly connected at its lower end tothe top of the cap and is screw-threaded throughout an intermediateportion of its length, as indicated at 20, for cooperative threadedengagement with an opening in a cover 2| closing the upper end of thestandpipe I 6. For rotating the stem, and consequently raising andlowering the cap l8 to vary the vertical position of the escape ports 22(and hence the level of the water in the standpipe), a hand wheel 23 issecured to the end of the stem which projects beyond the standpipe cover2!.

An air vent 24 of conventional type is associated with the radiator topermit the escape of air therefrom. This vent may be operatedthermostatically, as is well-known in the art; to release air from theradiator untilthe tem-- The operation of the heating system justdescribed is as follows: Steam generated in'the boiler B rises in theline 2 where it passes'into the radiator R. The water condensed from thesteam accumulates in the radiator and the standpipe S, and passes intothe overflow pipe i! from which it returns through the line 3 to thesurge tank T. The arrows indicate the course of travel of the steam andwater through the system. In order to escape, the condensate formed inthe radiator must be forced upwardly through the standpipe S until itspills through the ports 22 into the, overflow pipe I! communicatingwith the return line 3. If the pressure in the steam supply line is lowenough, the radiator will fill completely with water. This will be thecondition in warm weather. However, as the weather grows cooler, thevalve ifi under the influence of the bulb I3 located outside thebuilding, will open, allowing increased pressure of steam to enter theradiator which acts to force the level of the water downward and enlargethe effective heating area ofithe radiator. In very cold weather theradiator may be almost entirely evacuated of waterand filled with steamso that practically the entire surface of the radiator is effective forthe radiation of heat; Since the rate of loss of heat from an enclosureis a factor dependent mainlyupon the difference in temperatures insideand outside the enclosure, any changes in the weather will be promptlyreflected in the heat emission rate of the radiator; As a consequencethe control of the radiatorwill run ahead of actual temperatureconditions within the enclosure and maintain the temperature of theenclosure substantially'uniform, while avoiding abrupt fluctuations'suchas occur when a room thermostat is solelyrelied upon "for temperaturecontrol. f I

By'adjusting the height of the ports 22 in. the cap l8 by means of thehand'wheel'23 and.con sequently the level to which the condensate wateris required to be raisedbythe steam pressure'in order to escape through.the overflow pipe II, the heating capacity can be regulated'as' desiredto best suit the individu'al comfort of-the occu pant of the room servedby the radiator.-

The surge tank T is not essentialto the is uccessful operation of theheating systemjjust described. If it isnot desirabletoureturnthehcondensaterro'm the radiator to the boiler, thesurge tankmay be eliminated, the condensate being vented from overflow pipe I!into a suitable drain. When the surge tank is provided, it issubstantially filled with water in cold weather and the radiatorsubstantially filled with steam. In warm weather the reverse is true,the surge tank being nearly empty and the radiator substantially filledwith water.

While only one radiator has been shown and described, manifestlyadditional radiators R might, and ordinarily will be, placed incommunication with the steam line 2, each radiator being provided withstandpipes and overflow pipes and feeding into return line 3. Anadditional radiator R unit has been indicated in phantom lines in Fig.l.

V The box enclosing the bulb i3 of the embodiment of Fig. 1 may also beprovided with a heatingelement H in the same manner shown in theembodiment of Fig. 3, so as to reflect changes in temperature due towind velocity. Also addivtional auxiliary structure may be included inperature of the steam is obtained, and then closes to prevent furtherescape of either air or-steain corner the heating systems describedabove in accordance with recognized practice and as may be foundnecessary or desirable.

Manifestly various changesin the construction and arrangement of theparts of the heating system above-described may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as definedin the following claims:

I claim:

1. A heating system comprising a plurality of radiators each locatedwithin an enclosure and connected to a source of steam pressure througha common steam pressure regulating valve for regulating the pressure ofsteam admitted to the radiators, thermostatic control means locatedoutside said enclosure and responsive to the rise and fall of outdoortemperature conditions for actuating said Valve to decrease and increaserespectively the steam pressure supplied to said radiators, a condensateoverflow outlet, for each radiator extending upwardly from the bottom ofeach radiator to an elevation substantially above the bottom of theradiator, whereby variation in steam pressure will vary the level ofcondensate in the radiator to vary the heating effect of the radiator,and manual means for each radiator to adjustably vary theheight of theoverflow outlet, whereby the relative heating effects of the separateradiators may be varied individually.

2. A heating system according to claim 1 including a housing enclosingsaid thermostatic control, and heating means for normally maintainingthe temperature within the housing higher than the temperaturesurrounding the h us a fi A l feating system comprising a boiler forgenerating steam, a radiator located within an enclosure, a steam supplyline extending between the boiler and the inlet side of the radiator, astandpipe connected to the outlet side of the radiator, an overflow pipecommunicating with the upper end of the standpipe at an elevationsubstantially above the bottom of the radiator, a surge tank, a steamreturn line extending between the overflow pipe and said surge tank, apump for delivering water from the surge tank to the boiler, a controlfor operating the pump in accordance with the level of water in theboiler, a valve for regulating the pressure of steam admitted to theradiator from the steam supply line, thermostatic control means locatedoutside of said enclosure for actuating said valve, a housing enclosingsaid thermostatic control 5 means and heating means for maintaining theNumber temperature within said housing higher than the 1 830 051temperature surrounding said housing. 1868555 SAMUEL W. TRAYLOR, JR.2199840 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the339:5 1 file of this patent: 944,183

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